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NORTH CENTRAL LAND USE PLAN
The North Central land use planning process (NCLUP) is a provincial government-led process, initiated in 2000-01. The plan is nearing completion and is expected to guide and regulate human activities on 3.2 million hectares (8 million acres) of land and water in the north central part of Saskatchewan's boreal forest.
The planning process was sparked in the late 1990s by citizen concerns about industrial logging in southern parts of the planning area. Around the same time, the provincial government began preparations to issue a long-term forestry licence in the area to the Lac La Ronge Indian Band. A land use plan was needed to meet the requirements of the Forest Resources Management Act, which calls for completion of a land use plan before a major timber licence is issued.
Timber harvesting was identified as in important planning issue, but other important issues surfaced, including mining, tourism and traditional land use pursuits.
The Place
Located in north-central Saskatchewan, most of the planning area is on the Boreal Shield (ecozone) with some of its southern areas on the Boreal Plain (ecozone).
The forest is mostly roadless, peppered with pristine lakes, rivers and streams. The land is complex, bountiful, beautiful, mostly healthy and highly sensitive to unnatural change. Many wildlife species live and travel through the region including the endangered woodland caribou. Southern portions of the planning area straddle a large segment of the Churchill River.
Much of the planning area captures the traditional territories of the Lac La Ronge Indian Band. Members of the band live throughout the planning area in the communities of Brabant Lake, Grandmother's Bay, Stanley Mission, Sucker River, Hall Lake and La Ronge.
The Participants
Participants at the planning table have included representatives from each of the region’s aboriginal communities, trappers, commercial fishermen, tourism, outfitters, recreational users, mining, forestry, environmental groups, government, Métis Nation and the Lac La Ronge Indian Band.
The Planning Approach
The planning process has undergone significant controversy due to conflicting views on how to approach planning and decision-making. In spite of the majority of participants wanting a conservation-based approach to ensure strong consideration for ecosystem health and sustainable communities, government and industry insisted on an industrial-based approach.
CPAWS Work
CPAWS worked alongside many of the planning team members to produce and submit research information on the ecology of the land, local economic issues and options, and land use options and opportunities in the region. Respected, independent, boreal forest ecologists and planners from other parts of Canada reviewed the research report, known as the Uskiy Puhco report. They endorsed the Uskiy Puhco report as a scientifically credible approach to land use and conservation in the region. In spite of endorsement however, government dismissed the research and pursued an industrial model.
When the Uskiy Puhco report was sent out for independent review, the scientists were also asked to review the government’s draft land use plan. The reviewers identified serious issues in the government plan such as economic unsustainability of forestry in the region, the negative impacts of logging on the land and local economies, and the virtual assurance that woodland caribou would disappear over time.
Outcome
A final government-issued plan is expected soon. CPAWS does not support this government plan because the plan’s zoning structure supports industrial interests without consideration for forest health health, cultural health, or the future of many local livelihoods. The government plan opens roughly 90% of the region up to future industrial development (mining, clearcutting, hydro, roads, etc). The beautiful Churchill River is zoned for industrial development as well.
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